The agreement to preserve historic Doughoregan Manor is about more than just historic preservation, county officials said this week. The deal, announced last week, also sets up a buffer to guard against future growth in western Howard and serves a growing demand for senior housing, officials said.

Camilla and Philip D. Carroll, the owners of the 18th-century manor house and estate in Ellicott City, signed an agreement Sept. 15 with the Catonsville-based Erickson Retirement Communities to sell about 150 acres of land on the eastern edge of their 892-acre estate. The land would be used to build a retirement community campus of up to 1,500 units.

Erickson would have the option to buy an additional 38 acres, which could support another 500 units.

The Carrolls plan to preserve at least 665 acres of the property, according to Brad Phillips, a family spokesman. Neither the Carrolls nor Erickson would reveal the value of the deal.

The Carroll property is on the edge of the county's boundary for water and sewer service. By protecting nearly 700 acres from future development, the deal allays long-standing concerns about moving that service line, County Executive Kenneth Ulman said.

"That was a primary objective as well, to see a real strong buffer emerge," Ulman said this week. "I'm confident this is a limited expansion (of water and sewer)."

Details are still being discussed on whether the Erickson community would create its own on-site water treatment plant or would get full county water and sewer service.

Lines run under the property but are not connected, said County Council Chairwoman Courtney Watson, whose Ellicott City district includes the property

"Either way, it will be the demarcation line of development for the west," Watson said.

County Council member Greg Fox said there is a lot of concern about increased density in the western part of the county, which he represents. He said he would approach the Doughoregan proposal with an "open mind," but would want to be sure expanding utility service to Erickson would not have a negative impact on other residents in the west.

If Erickson requires water and sewer, it will have to submit an amendment to the water and sewer master plan, Watson said, and will need a zoning amendment.

The public will have ample opportunity to comment on the proposal when it goes before the Planning Board and the County Council, Watson said.

Preserving the land

Ulman said it is not clear exactly in what form the land will be preserved, but said the property could qualify for the county's agricultural land preservation program.

Fred Dorsey, vice president of Preservation Howard County, said the deal sounded good, based on what he had heard of it, but he wanted to make sure the original buildings and surrounding land will be untouched. Until that is guaranteed, he said, the site might remain on his group's list of endangered historic sites in Howard County.

Phillips, the Carroll family spokesman, said the deal lays the financial groundwork for the family to be able to preserve the manor property indefinitely. The family's concern was that high estate taxes would be levied if one of the family members should die unexpectedly, and the family, unable to afford the taxes, could lose the property.

While the current zoning on the land would have allowed up to 192 single-family homes on one-acre lots, he said the family wanted as little development as possible.

"Their goal has always been that when you're standing in the historic hub of the property, they don't want to look out and see development," Phillips said. "They want to be able to look around 360 degrees and not see anything other than green."

Phillips said the deal also would get the family the money needed to repair and maintain buildings on the property.

In addition, the family will donate 36 acres to the county, which will go to expanding Kiwanis-Wallis Park. Ulman and Watson said the initial idea would be to add ball fields and a playground to the property.

Retirement homes needed

Erickson, which already owns three other retirement communities in Maryland, in Catonsville, Parkville and Silver Spring, has done some initial market research that indicates a need for retirement homes in Howard County, according to company spokesman Mel Tansill.

The company found that about 438,000 people 65 and older live within a 25-mile radius of Doughoregan Manor. The demographics supporting an Erickson community are "compelling," Tansill said in an e-mail response to questions.

Ulman said Howard County has the second-fastest growing senior population in Maryland and the facility will address a real need.

Phillips said the Carroll family also would consider opening the property to the public in the future, but not while family members are still living there, an idea applauded by Dorsey.

"It's a wonderful property," Dorsey said. "It would be as important to Maryland as Mount Vernon is to Virginia."

The Erickson deal is the culmination of year-long talks between the family and the county to find a way to preserve the land. A 30-year historic easement on the property expired in May 2007 and a 2006 county proposal to buy the development rights to the land for $24 million was rejected by the family.

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